Technology and health care are the top-performing stock market sectors of the year, and ARKK has taken advantage of that by holding some of the highest-flying names in the group, including Tesla, Amazon, Nvidia and AthenaHealth.

The fund also has a sizable stake in the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), equal to 5.1% of the ETF's holdings. The over-the-counter traded bitcoin investment vehicle is up a stunning 477% this year.

The ARK Web x.0 ETF (ARKW), a narrower ETF from ARK that holds next-generation internet companies, is also on the top 10 list, with a gain of 62%.

Through the first nine months of the year, KWEB was up 63.9%; CQQQ was up 62.1%; and EMQQ was up 59.2%.

There's a lot of overlap between the holdings of all three funds. Each has the same top three holdings: Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba. These Chinese internet companies and others like them have skyrocketed this year thanks to soaring profits.

The WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund (CXSE), with a 64.5% year-to-date return, is another ETF on the top 10 list. Even though it provides broad exposure to the Chinese stock market (excluding government-owned firms), its biggest stakes are in the internet behemoths.

Once again, the top three holdings are Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba.

The one China ETF on the list that is a bit more distinct than the rest is the Global X China Materials ETF (CHIM). The fund, which is up 55.8% this year, targets the basic materials industry in China.

Investors have also been encouraged by strengthening economic growth. Brazil stocks briefly hit a road bump midyear after corruption allegations against President Michel Temer were revealed. That saga is still playing out.